in new york confirmed the raid saying the israeli military was doing everything possible to prevent civilians at the hospital getting caught up in the operation. and eyewitnesses told the bbc he has tanks inside the hospital grounds and more than 100 soldiers entering the main emergency department. in a statement, the idf says it is conducting a ground operation in gaza to defeat hamas and rescue hostages. it said israel is at war with hamas not with the civilians in gaza. this is the first time the military is directly entering al—shifa hospital after days of strikes and heavy fighting around the grounds in gaza city. the white house has reiterated its earlier position that it does not want to see any targeting of hospitals. the raid comes after the us confirmed it has intelligent supporting israel's claim that hamas in the palestinian islamicjihad are operating from tunnels below hospitals, including al—shifa. they say they are also storing weapons there. thomas denies the claims and has called for an international committee to come international committee to come in and inspect the al—shifa compound. thousands of civilians including patients and medical staff are said to be sheltering in and around the hospital. in the last hour i spoke about the operation with the deputy consul general of israel in new york. the idf is right now carrying out what it calls a precise and targeted operation in the al—shifa hospital. what exactly does that mean? it means that we are doing everything we can to dismantle the capabilities of hamas. hamas is a terrorist organisation who embedded its fighters and capabilities and weapons in and under al—shifa hospital and by the way it's not the only hospital where they did it and we are doing everything we can dismantle this capability and make sure that we can also free the hostages. 0k, and what does that mean, everything you can, in the specific instance of the al—shifa hospital tonight? what does everything we can mean? everything we can means that we take the weapons, that we dismantle it, neutralise their fighters, their terrorists, while making sure we minimise the collateral damage, the loss of innocent civilian lives. this is what it means. that's israeli ground forces in the hospital, as we heard from our eyewitness there, as you say, neutralising, which in lay person speak means killing. did israel make efforts to evacuate the hospital in advance? of course, we take every measure that is possible. what were those, sorry, it's important to get to the specifics here. just exactly what efforts did israel take to evacuate that hospital, we are told there were thousands of innocent civilians sheltering there. i'll repeat what i said. this is a very difficult, almost impossible mission to make sure that we dismantle their capabilities while there are patients there and innocent people. crosstalk. how did you evacuate them, please explain to us. and facilitating platforms for patients and people, innocent people that are in the hospital to make sure that they leave safely, but unfortunately hamas uses their own people as human shields, preventing them from leaving these hospitals because they know that they protect them by their presence there and that's why i'm saying this is a very difficultjob and a very difficult mission, but believe me, we're doing everything that is possible. but in recent days, just today as well we have had reports of israeli tanks surrounding the hospital, we've heard staff members say anyone who tried to leave was shot. that people could not leave. again, i am asking you exactly what those efforts were to evacuate people, if tanks are surrounding the hospital, if there are soldiers in there, how did you get people out, how many people did you manage to get out? the israeli tanks are surrounding hospital, not only fighting the hamas terrorists that are hiding within the hospital, but also facilitating routes for innocent people and patients that are hospitalised in this hospital to evacuate and to leave the hospital so we can complete the mission, and again, the mission is to make sure that we dismantle and neutralise the terrorists but are there that are hiding there and there is a great infrastructure, terrorist infrastructure, their command centres, this is what they've been doing for the last 16 years, building a huge infrastructure under this hospital and again this is not the only place where they did it, they did in other hospitals and mosques and schools and this is a very difficult task as i said to dismantle it, but the tanks, the israeli tanks that are there are not only, their mission is not only to fight to be hamas terrorists that are there but also facilitating routes, for people... inaudible. innocent people to evacuate. i'll ask the question again, how many people did you manage to evacuate? we have seen so many reports of innocent civilians sheltering there as we've mentioned but also sick children, sick babies, tiny newborn babies without incubators, if you tried everything you could to evacuate people, how many people did you manage to evacuate? the battle is ongoing and unlike hamas i would not mention figures that i cannot 100% make sure that i am correct. so i don't have specific figures, but the israeli, the idf is doing everything possible and i repeat according to international law we're doing everything that is possible to make sure that we minimise civilian casualties and minimise the collateral damage because loss of innocent lives is a tragedy. also when it is palestinians, when it is israelis, innocent people, it is a tragedy, and this is something we would like to prevent. we are targeting the hamas terrorists. but nevertheless this is a hospital. the un has said that claims of militant activity does not absolve israel from its obligation to spare civilian life. the us presidentjoe biden has called on israel not to attack the hospital in this way. we have those reports that soldiers have fired a smoke bomb in the hospital tonight which are causing people to suffocate, to struggle for air. international opinion is there that this does not absolve israel from its obligation to spare civilian life. of course not. but this is exactly the goal of hamas, this is why they built their capabilities and this is why... crosstalk. but with respect, sorry to interrupt, we're short on time, i'm not asking you to account for hamas but to account for what israel and the idf is doing. so if i know that there are missiles, there are hostages within the hospital or under the hospital, under this place, we will do everything we can to release the hostages, we will do everything we can to dismantle the lethal capabilities of a terrorist organisation that is using its own people as human shields, while doing everything to protect innocent civilian lives. briefly, you mentioned hostages there. does that mean you think there are any israeli hostages in the al—shifa hospital? there may be. maybe. i do not know. the battle is ongoing as we speak. 0k, thank you very much forjoining us. that's the acting israeli consul general in new york joining us on bbc. thank you very much for having me. as we follow developments at the al—shifa hospital i spoke to an american paediatrician who was trapped in gaza and finally allowed to leave a few weeks ago. she shed light on the deteriorating condition at medical facilities inside the territory. what were conditions like where you were? we were in a un compound. i was with other humanitarian workers and we were there for — i was there for 26 days and then we were evacuated. we were fortunate, we could get water, we could get food, but i know people in the adjoining section that was for the people of gaza that they did not — there were 400 people per toilet, they were not getting water and they were not getting food or getting minimal food. they had to purchase it themselves but it was very limited at that point in the stores and that was ten days ago that i left. you've been in gaza many times working for the palestine child ren�*s relief fund. we are seeing tonight these reports of israeli ground forces in the al—shifa hospital. did you ever visit that hospital? did you ever work there? yes, last year i visited several hospitals in gaza. we were looking, through palestinian children's relief fund, to see what the needs were of different hospitals. al—shifa had a wonderful newborn intensive care unit that had up—to—date equipment, they did not have enough, they had to double up babies on warmers sometimes, but excellent training of staff and equipment equivalent to the united states. as we've seen in recent days, those babies are out of those incubators now. knowing what you know of the conditions in gaza at the moment, and that specific hospital, what will things be like tonight, do you think, for the medics there, the patients, the people in there? for the newborns that i know, i know the neonatal unit which is probably a few blocks away from the surgical unit, they had to carry them over to the surgical area and put them in an operating room and just bundle them in towels to keep them as warm as they could, but there is problems with getting formula or nutrition to the babies, oxygen if they need it is not available, there no electricity, so those babies, i know there were 46 over the weekend, i don't know how many are alive now but it is severe risk of dying. a neonatologist at al—shifa who is currently or had to relocate to mid gaza is really fearing for the lives of all of those babies. israel says that hamas has command centres under al—shifa and other hospitals. in your years of visiting there, did you ever see evidence of that? no. i was really looking at the newborn units and the paediatric unit so i did not go underneath the hospital. 0k. in your field of paediatrics, when we see what's happened in gaza in the last few weeks, so many children killed, injured, orphaned. what do you think will be the lasting impact on the children of gaza of what has happened? it is devastating, really, devastating for families to see children die, to see their children die, and these are large families, and just the impact of a child to be under bombing, to have family members die, parents die, this goes on for decades, this goes on for generations, so this is just devastating. palestinian children's relief fund itself is going to have to rebuild a paediatric oncology unit thatjust opened in 2019 and so those children with chronic diseases, the ones that i see when i go there, i don't know how they are surviving. there have limited medication even when i was there last year. do you think there is an appreciation in the wider international community aboutjust how, as you say, devastating things are there at the moment? i don't think there can be an appreciation. it is just so terrible. terrible is a mild word for it, honestly. dr barbara zind, thank you for speaking to us and telling us of your experience. we appreciate that. thank you for having me. around the world and across the uk former british home secretary suella braverman has fired back at her old boss rishi sunak a day after being fired from her post. in a scathing letter she said the prime minister had repeatedly failed on vital policies and broken pledges over immigration. she wrote that mr sunak had adopted what she called wishful thinking to avoid having to make hard choices. 0ur political editor chris mason has more on the letter. it is dripping with derision about the prime minister. let me read you a couple of words that struck me as i read the letter. betrayal, equivocation, disregard, wishful thinking and a lack of certainty. the pm's office has responded to suella braverman�*s letter saying rishi sunak believes in actions not words. she was ousted on monday as part of a broader shakeup of sunak�*s government after she drew fire for her comments about police and their handling of pro— palestinian protesters. the reshuffle brought former british prime ministers david cameron back into government. you're live with the bbc news. the us house of representatives has passed top gap funding measure that could avoid a government shutdown. measure that could avoid a government shutdown. the measure that could avoid a government shutdown. the bill is assed government shutdown. the bill is passed and without - government shutdown. the billi is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. ibiiiii the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.— laid on the table. bill gives congress — laid on the table. bill gives congress more _ laid on the table. bill gives congress more to - laid on the table. bill gives| congress more to negotiate spending a continuing some government funding until mid—january. and it goes to the senate now where it is expected to pass before friday's deadline. house democrats helped get the bill across the baseline. with more than 90 republicans voting against it saying it didn't involve the spending cuts they wanted. the speaker of the house mike johnson who is roughly three weeks into the speakership. in september a similar boat in the house caused the previous speaker evan mccarthy his post. write up the bill passed i spoke with darren hood of illinois. congress manhood, thanks forjoining us on bbc news. the house hasjust passed this package and now it moves to the senate and needs approval there first before that deadline on monday are you confident the government shutdown can now be avoided? i think we have made a lot of progress on the vote earlier today to pass the continuing resolution of government funding and to have it move over to the senate. the likelihood of averting a government shutdown will happen and i think that is good for the country. it and i think that is good for the country-— the country. it is not a permanent _ the country. it is not a permanent deal - the country. it is not a permanent deal are i the country. it is not a. permanent deal are not the country. it is not a i permanent deal are not a permanent deal are not a permanent funding measure, another continuing resolution which many in your party had sworn against doing. that which many in your party had sworn against doing.- sworn against doing. that is absolutely _ sworn against doing. that is absolutely true _ sworn against doing. that is absolutely true and - sworn against doing. that is absolutely true and if i sworn against doing. that is absolutely true and if you i sworn against doing. that is i absolutely true and if you saw there was roughly 90 plus votes against the continuing resolution but we had limited options and really, there are many members of the republican party, me included, that have real concerns about the $34 trillion that this country is in debt and the fact we have not had the fortitude or ability to address our debt and thatis ability to address our debt and that is why you've seen this back and this disagreement within the conference that was part of the reason why speaker mccarthy went down is because we haven't had the ability to have a conversation as it relates to fiscal responsibility and i think that is reflected in many of the members of the republican conference.— members of the republican conference. mentioned there s - eaker conference. mentioned there speaker mccarthy _ conference. mentioned there speaker mccarthy losing i conference. mentioned there speaker mccarthy losing his. speaker mccarthy losing his position and it was because he reached across the island needed the backing the democrats. the same thing that speakerjohnson has done now. so what is different? i speakerjohnson has done now. so what is different?— so what is different? i think it took us — so what is different? i think it took us almost _ so what is different? i think it took us almost 25 - so what is different? i think it took us almost 25 days i so what is different? i think it took us almost 25 days to i it took us almost 25 days to get a new speaker. she wasn't responsible for the situation we're in now. i think he gets a little bit of a honeymoon because he has just been on the job for less than three weeks. i think he had limited options. he couldn't allow the government to shut down and so this is the limited option. it is a short period to get us through the new year and then begin to have this very serious conversation about how we get our fiscal house in order. conversation about how we get ourfiscal house in order. hose our fiscal house in order. how lona do our fiscal house in order. how long do you — our fiscal house in order. how long do you think— our fiscal house in order. how long do you think his - our fiscal house in order. how long do you think his honeymoon period, as you put it, will last for speakerjohnson? applicable be short lived. congressman darin lahood there speaking to be a little earlier. us presidentjoe biden has landed in san francisco where he was greeted by californian governor avenue some. —— gavin newsom he is there to host the asia—pacific economic cooperation summit also known as apec. the apec summit focuses on free trade, bringing together 23 countries which together account for 60% of the world's economy. it a lot of focuses on tomorrow's meeting between biden and xijinping. it is xijinping's visit to the us since 2017? earlier i spoke to the bbc�*s sumi somaskanda. what can we expect from this? catriona, we have seen us officials say in the lead up to this summit they are not expecting a long list of outcomes when it comes to the meeting between president biden and president xi. they have three main goals they have stated between managing the competition between these two economies. preventing the downward risk of conflict and also ensuring that lines of communication are open, and that is pretty much it. it may seem like low hanging fruit but we have to keep in mind the significant points of tension between these two countries right now, from everything from trade policy to taiwan. so we asked that very question to the us ambassador to apec, matt murray. hejoined us here a little bit earlier and this is what he told us. ambassador murray, we're going to see this meeting between president biden and president xi on wednesday. president biden has said in advance this is going to be establishing communication again between these two countries to make sure there is someone to pick up the phone on the other end when washington calls. we are not looking for anything huge breakthroughs but why do you think this meeting is significant at this summit at this time? i think as you just said the keyword, communication, and wanting to maintain open communications lines between united states and china and wanting to manage the competition responsibly. so we've had a number of visits from us senior officials, secretary blinken, secretary yellin to china this year. also we just welcomed wang yi a couple of weeks ago. from the aipac perspective as my role as a senior official for one, it is terrific also to see that apec continues to be a platform every year for these kinds of engagements to happen between leaders of these key economies from around the asia—pacific region so that they can really focus on the key issues that we really need to address here and now. that's why we see so many players in the region who've gathered here for these meetings. i want to ask you another question about what we saw the secretary of state say in his opening remarks at the apec plenary session. he said the united states believes in that vision of a region where economies are free to choose their own path and partners, where problems are dealt with openly, where rules are reached transparently and apply fairly. is that how a message to china? i think in that perspective and what the secretary was talking today, it's very much a